Giving CPR to an 87 year old is likely to break ribs.

And/or the sternum.

More on this from another article:



The family’s statement called Bayless a ‘‘remarkable and intelligent woman’’ and said she was aware that Glenwood Gardens did not offer trained medical staff, yet opted to live there anyway.

‘‘Caregivers, nurses and other medical professionals have very difficult waters to tread in the legal and medical landscape of our country today,’’ the family said. (Snip)



The family said it would not sue or try to profit from the death, and called it ‘‘a lesson we can all learn from.’’

‘‘We regret that this private and most personal time has been escalated by the media,’’ the statement said.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2013/03/05/death-elder-home-prompts-call-for-change/hDvpLqLjXHxw7MUjHJRsXN/story.html

It´s all about the inheritance and the family will sue.

The woman had a DNR. They could have sued if the facility HAD intervened.

I think the family, and the old lady, are very refreshing. I hope I have her chutzpa when I´m that old.

The person that called 911 said the patient had shallow breathing. That means the heart was still beating. You cannot give CPR to someone who´s heart is still beating without the possibility of stopping the heart altogether and the possibility of not getting it started again.

The 911 operator was just that. Not a medical person, and without any authority to order anyone to do anything.

My late Mother started saying "no resuscitation" , "no intervention"when she was in her 60s.

DNRs serve a purpose. Sometimes, enough suffering is enough. God says, time to come home, and the suffering individual says, please welcome me.
If you´ve never been in the situation, please don´t judge.

My wife is a retired RN and has performed CPR many times. They were all performed in a medical facility. Once with a full emergency team working on the patient. He was the only one that was revived and died the next day. She said in all instances, ribs were broken. We both are DNRs. When our hearts stop, we´re done.
My granddaughter is a senior in high school and has worked part-time on an ambulance crew for nearly two years. She is already disenchanted about the chances of anyone being saved with CPR. So far, all she´s seen is broken ribs as a result of her efforts. She continues to do CPR, but is always saddened by the end result.

The article does not mention a DNR and an ABC news (sic) report said that she did not have one. Nonetheless, heroic measures for an 87 year old are not always called for. Many in these facilities are at peace and ready for what comes. OTOH my aunt *did* have a DNR and some over-zealous staff did resuscitate her so she could suffer and decline for several more months before she was allowed to go as she wished.

The breathless news reporting on this has been a travesty, but that´s the MSM these days. I hope the MSM has their DNR in order.

I think it was pretty good years ago when three, maybe four generations of the family were all in one house - to have to go off to an assisted living facility when one has family, I just don´t really get that - maybe one would rather be there than with the family one has, maybe one would rather just go on to heaven than knowing one it is okay with your family for you to be at some place with strangers. To me, 87 is still relatively young (having many old folks going up into the 100´s, still sharp and with a twinkle in the eye).

Depends on the situation, #10. Family may not reside in the community where the elderly person wants to live...in which case the choice is to move to a strange city or into independent living in your own town. The elderly person may be wheelchair-bound, while family homes or apartments may not accommodate wheelchairs. Family may not have an extra bedroom available, or bedrooms may all be upstairs and the elderly person can no longer climb stairs.

it is so easy to sit in sanctimonious judgment when one hasn´t a clue as to how a decision was made or why. Hearkening back to that halcyon day where four generations lived in harmony, with little lambs gamboling around darling great grandma´s feet...what a sweet picture. Sigh.

My demanding great-grandmother, who lived into her mid-nineties, made life utterly miserable for her overworked daughter and her beleaguered husband, never contributed a dime or lifted a hand, for the nearly fifty years she lived with them,, but intervened imperiously in every family discussion. How much happier she might have been in a more stimulating environment where a crew of devoted employees rushed to meet her every need, where there were bridge games and bingo, and Icecream socials every Thursday, or better yet, wine and cheese at 5pm.

Must admit I felt a vast sense of relief when my very-much-with-it mother elected to toss her life savings into a continuing care community, where she could smoke to her heart´s content, pamper her rambunctious big dog, and do as she liked. Now well past 90, she no longer smokes or has a dog, but has moved up the care ladder to a room with her own furniture, but round-the-clock excellent and kind nursing care to change her, bathe her, get her dressed and in her wheelchair for the day. Her children visit often, pay her rent, and enjoy the time with her, without the tensions, mutual resentment and exhaustion there would be if she lived with one of us. I am thankful that she made that decision on her own, and that we can afford to sustain it.

My grandmother stayed at home her whole life- until she was well past 70, to care for Great Grandmother. These days few have that economic luxury or can resign themselves to that life sentence.
Nursing homes have changed dramatically since I was a child, much nicer places, and we are keeping people alive through debilitating illnesses that require intensive medical treatment. t seems very good that the do-everything philosophy is beginning to give way to a do-whatever-makes sense philosophy, and that we are now according our elderly infirm to make their own life-and-death decisions.
My mother has threatened to come back and haunt anybody who does a code on her.

SO who gets grandma´s estate...the family.

Something really smells here!

No 14; read the previous comments.